Summary: The Napa Valley Chamber Orchestra is reintroducing classical music to local elementary schools through performances of “Wild Symphony,” a story-based musical work by Dan Brown. Spearheaded by educators Lora Levin and Sabine Hirsohn, the program combines live chamber music, storytelling and visual aids to engage children and inspire future musicians. The nonprofit, volunteer-run orchestra aims to bring these free educational performances to every school in Napa County.
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Napa millennials remember fondly the annual school field trip to the Lincoln Theater to hear the Napa Symphony and learn about classical music. Sadly, the symphony is gone and Lincoln Theater is closed. Classical music exposure is largely absent from Napa elementary schools.
But the Napa Valley Chamber Orchestra is developing a program to acquaint school kids with classical music and to encourage them to play music themselves. The program is “Wild Symphony,” written by Dan Brown, who is a concert-level pianist as well as the acclaimed author of “The Da Vinci Code” and its sequels. Using a poem and a song for each animal, “Wild Symphony” details the adventures of Maestro Mouse and his companions from the animal kingdom. There is an interactive storybook, a musical portrait for each animal and poetry with a positive message. “Wild Symphony” has been performed by ensembles all over the world, and we are excited to welcome this performance to Napa.
“It’s so important that kids see and hear classical music when they’re young” — Sabine Hirsohn
The project is spearheaded by Lora Levin and Sabine Hirsohn, local educators who for years offered Suzuki-based violin lessons to Napa kids. Levin plays violin, and Hirsohn plays viola. Both are on the board of directors of the Napa Valley Chamber Orchestra. The objective is to bring “Wild Symphony” to every Napa elementary school, public and private. Hirsohn is in discussion with Napa schools and with the Napa County Library for future presentations. Members of the Chamber Orchestra will play the unique animal songs while the children can watch a PowerPoint showing pages from the storybook.
“It’s so important that kids see and hear classical music when they’re young,” Hirsohn said. “They will be the audience of the future and may be inspired to learn an orchestral instrument.”
For each performance of “Wild Symphony,” Hirsohn and colleagues from the Chamber Orchestra will bring this experience of classical music to kids where they are in school. The violin parts will be played by Caleb Forschen and Kyle Craft, Beth Heid will play the viola parts and cello sections are played by Tess Van Wagner. The story will be narrated by Hirsohn.
The first performance was on Sept. 7 at Napa Bookmine. Fifteen squirming young people attended and loved the performance.
“It was thrilling to watch the delight on the children’s faces as they were inspired by the music and poetry of Dan Brown’s ‘Wild Symphony,’” Hirsohn said.
The Napa Valley Chamber Orchestra, the only community orchestra in the Napa Valley, is a nonprofit charitable organization. Composed of 25 string players who primarily reside in the Napa Valley, the group is dedicated to bringing fine classical music to everyone in the county at no charge. They rely on individual donations and grants from the community to pay for performance venues, insurance and printing as well as to give honoraria to the outstanding professional musicians who head each section. The group is run by volunteers and has no paid administration. The next Chamber Orchestra concert will be Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. at Crosswalk Community Church, 2590 First St., Napa.
For more information, visit to napavalleychamberorchestra.com.
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Swan Day is a musician and volunteer with the Napa Valley Chamber Orchestra. Though a skilled musician, she does not perform with the orchestra.
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